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Article: Fort Detrick Sewer Leak Raises Questions
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- May 14, 1995
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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Contractors working at the Fort Detrick Army base near Frederick,
Md., last month discovered a tiny leak in a sewer line from the
laboratories where government scientists study the world's most
hazardous viruses and bacterial warfare agents.
The leak was quickly repaired and posed no threat to public
health, officials said, but it raised questions about the integrity
of a five-mile network of concrete-encased, cast-iron sewer lines
laid nearly 45 years ago.
"The question we were asking even before the tests is: How do we
know the system is any good, and do we even need the system?" said
base spokesman Norm Covert. "Is it overkill? It is a fail-safe system
that has done its job since 1951, ...